Aug 12, 2017

Chinese feature "Duck Duck Goose" gets first teaser trailer

Ass-in-the-face gag- Check.

Fart gag- Check.

Replacing the word “fucked” with “plucked”- Check.

Duck Duck Goose is the latest tick-all-the-boxes family-friendly goofy animal cgi tale headed to U.S. theaters. The trailer for the film, releasing April 20, 2018, came out this week.

The handsome-looking production is produced and financed by Harley Zhao's Original Force, a Chinese company that's almost one thousand strong, with offices in Beijing, Nanjing, and Chengdu. When the company announced in 2015 that it would start producing animated features, they also started up a small Culver City shop to take advantage of U.S.-based talents for pre-production.

Original Force has done plenty of service work on animated series (Dragons: Riders of Berk) and features (Ratchet & Clank), but until now, it has been best known for its in-game animation and effects on titles like Grand Theft Auto V, Need for Speed: The Run, League of Legends, and The Sims 3. With Duck Duck Goose, the company is making a move into producing its own feature film IP.

Distribution of Duck Duck Goose is being handled by Chinese distribution company Open Road Films; the company was just purchased by Tang Media Partners, but until last week had been a 50/50 venture between theater exhibitors Regal and AMC. This weekend, they're releasing The Nut Job 2 on over 4,000 screens. If there's one advantage that Open Road has over other distributors, it's access to plenty of screens to show their films on.

Chris Jenkins, a veteran Disney effects animator who more recently shifted to the producing side (Dreamworks' Home, Sony's Surf's Up), makes his feature directorial debut on Duck Duck Goose. Jenkins co-write the film with Rob Muir. Penney Finkelman Cox and Sandra Rabins are producers.

The film follows the adventures of a “high-flying bachelor goose” named Peng (voiced by Jim Gaffigan) who finds himself in charge of two ducklings (voiced by Zendaya and Lance Lim) that he must take along on a long journey south.

Other voices are provided by Greg Proops, Natasha Leggero, Reggie Watts, Diedrich Bader, Jennifer Grey, Rick Overton, Craig Ferguson, Stephen Fry, and Carl Reiner.